Crimson Peacock
by theevilgood
Summary: When Kuja survives the collapse of the Iifa Tree he finds himself in the care of a medic whom he quickly grows attached to. But what happens afterward may shake Kuja to his very core. Current rating: T for mild descriptive sensuality and violence. KujaxOC


**Hello, all. I was sitting out on the rain (of my own volition) the other day and was suddenly struck by the desire to write this. To clarify, the title is not only because of Kuja's affiliation with the color crimson in his Trance (as well as birds), but because the Japanese words for "crimson" and "peacock" are "kurenai" and "kujaku", respectively. Both the main characters (Kuja) have names derived from the two words, and Aren's last name is Roi. Aren can be spelled with letters in kurenai, and roi is kuroi (one of the ways to say black in Japanese).**

**Okay, now that I've talked your ear off about the title, I'll get to my recommended song. Each chapter I'll be recommending a song (or songs) from the Final Fantasy 9 soundtrack to play as mood music. These songs can be found on any number of places on Youtube or other various sites, so I will not be linking you.**

**This chapter's recommended listening is "A Place To Call Home", the opening theme for FF9. A slightly different piece was played in Oeilvert fittingly called "Oeilvert", if you'd rather listen to that version.**

**Crimson Peacock**

Chapter 1: Rescue Me From Hell Itself

Kuja smiled at Zidane. He knew that it would only be a few more moments before the tree collapsed around them, so he took the moments to heart. "I am sorry, Zidane," he confessed, "I have caused you and the Gaians so much trouble... It would appear that I am the peacock who saught to pluck the wings of a canary."

Zidane hushed Kuja, and stared at him intently. "It's okay," his Genome Brother spoke, "Dagger understood why I came down here, and-"

Before Zidane could finish his sentence the tree shook ferociously. "It's odd, isn't it Zidane?" queried the elder Genome, "It's as if the Iifa Tree is a giant ravenous beast, devouring the souls and bodies of any who dare to impede it's work."

The thief smiled for a moment, and playfully tapped Kuja on the arm. "Can't you stop being poetic for just a few minutes. We're dying here," he teased.

Before Kuja could respond, another tremendous growl eminated from the mighty tree. The roots lashed forward and snapped Kuja across the face. The last thing he saw before the darkness set in was a brilliant flash of pinkish light. After that, everything faded...

Brown and silver. They were the only colors he could see. Kuja brushed his majestic silver hair aside, and immediately noticed that the three rare silver feathers that he always kept in his hair were missing. With a groan, he began to sit up. This action was abruptly halted as a coursing pain ran throughout his entire body.

"Dont sit up," a female voice resounded from directly to his left. He tried to look towards the direction of the voice, but quickly realized two things. The pain was centered around his neck, and his vision was only a great blur. "My name is Aren Roi," the female voice spoke once more, "Do not move. You're still healing from the injuries you had when I found you."

Kuja managed to find his voice, and he said, "Describe everything about the place I'm in to me." Aren chuckled. "That's an odd request, but okay..." her voice carried the faintest hints of a smile, "We're in my house. It's naturally lit and built into the mountain about halfway up. The only way in is through a secret path that's covered up by the Great Tree's roots, but there are windows. I line the walls with black Mythril. It's rare, and the only real luxury of my house. You're laying on a cotton bed with silk sheets, and there are a couple of desks where I keep my things. You know, your voice sounds a lot better when you're not mumbling in a coma."

Kuja tried to laugh, but found that it caused more pain to spiral outwards from his neck. "Be careful," Aren warned, "I've been trained in the ways of medicine, but there's only so much I can do. When I found you, your nose and neck were broken and the rest was severely bruised. In fact, I can barely make out your face, even after the three weeks you were asleep."

Kuja had to restrain himself from bolting upright. Thankfully his nature warranted him a degree of self-control. "Three weeks," he whispered, "Has anything important happened?"

Aren smiled, although he couldn't see it. "Mhmm," she confirmed, "A lot. Exactly a week ago, that giant purple orb over the Iifa Tree was attacked by a bunch of airships. Not too long after, it disappeared, the mist vanished, and the main bulk of the tree collapsed. Thankfully the roots still block the way into my home to any who don't know the way in."

Aren took a moment to catch her breath and let Kuja absorb the knowledge. Then, she continued, "I get the Moogle Weekly delivered her from Mognet Central. They were actually down until about two weeks before the orb disappeared. Anyways, I got some news from the Mist Continent that Lindblum, Burmecia, and Alexandria have all been mostly restored. They say that no one has seen this 'Kuja' fellow since when he went through the Lost Continent. It's too bad they don't have any pictures of him, I'd really like to know what makes a madman like that tick. In addition to medicine, I also study human behavior. Although it doesn't seem like either of us are exactly human: we do both have tails, after all, although of different kinds." She sighed apologetically, "Sorry, I talked your ear off."

Kuja would've shook his head, if not for the pain. But the conversation suddenly peaked his interest. "No, no, I'm a bit of a theatrical man. Excessive discussion does not phase me in the least," he said, "A tail, you say? Are you a Burmecian?" Aren quickly replied no. "How odd... You see, I am not... quite a human, as you said. I am what's referred to as a... Terran," Kuja avoided the use of the word Genome, "We have primate tails... Although I much prefer to keep mine hidden."

Aren laughed out loud. "Yeah, I know what you mean," she said, "My tail is more bushy... kinda like a wolf, or a fox. It cramps up when I hide it, but it's for the best in public. Oh, I read one last thing in this weeks issue. Apparently some monkey-tailed boy showed up in the middle of a play and proposed to Princess Garnet of Alexandria on the spot!"

Kuja started to smile, but coughed painfully, and felt a solid, warm fluid hit his hands. "You're coughing up blood!" cried out Aren, "Not again, not again, not again." The girl began to panic as he heard her fumbling with glass mixtures. "Ah, here we go. You weren't supposed to have another attack until tomorrow," she said as she dropped three drops of the liquid down his throat. It burned like hot acid, but his coughing immediately ceased. "Something inside you has been killing off your body for the last three weeks," she mumbled, coming down off her adrenaline high, "I took a few samples, and you appear to have been infected with some alien disease. It's been in your system for what appears to be years... your body won't fight it because it's used to it being there. In fact, it's almost like you were born with the disease already in your system."

Kuja sighed and closed his eyes. Vision was useless, so there was no reason to use his eyes. "If you wanted to meet Kuja, I could take you to him as soon as I have become well," Kuja said, "It'd be rather easy, seeing as I'm Kuja. And you're right, I was made with the disease inside me. Made, not born."

He waited, for almost an eternity, to hear the screams and sounds of terror that always accompanied his name. However, no such sounds came. "I saved the man who almost killed all life," Aren said after several minutes of silence. Kuja shook his head as much as his pained neck would allow. "The disease is not of this world, and so your magic is useless against it," he said, "Terra is not a country, girl... it's a planet. At least it was... I found out Garland had set an unnatural limit upon my life, so I killed him... I killed them all... Terra does not exist anymore because I went into a Trance, and destroyed the entire planet! How could the one who was considered my father destroy my very existance in such a way!"

Aren placed a hand on his forehead. "It's okay. Relax, once your better, you can tell me all about yourself, and start a new life," she assured him. "No," he retorted, "There is no love for me in this world." He was hushed with a finger to his lips. "Come now," she whispered gently, "rest. Every man has a place to call home, eventually..." With that, Kuja drifted into sleep once more...

Kuja awoke feeling less pain. "How long?" he queried. He knew the girl would still be there. "It was a week this time," Aren responded, "But you haven't had any more attacks, and your wounds are healing unnaturally fast, even without my medicine."

He opened his eyes, and turned to look at her. He could see this time, and he took in her beauty for the first time. Her hair was dark black and her eyes shone a brilliant purple. Her tail had fur matching her hair, and it swished happily from side to side. She was wearing very little clothing, and what we wore was in rags. The clothing she wore was just enough to cover her nethers and her moderately-sized breasts. Her skin was pale and smoothe, much like his own, yet it was caked with dirt.

"I'm sorry I look this way... you see, I don't have enough money to get any real clothes," she sighed. Kuja shook his head, thankful for the ability to do so. "Hold your apologies," he spoke, "I care not for your riches, but for the quality of that which you hath bestowed upon me."

The girl poked his arm and smirked. "Don't go quoting Lord Avon on me," she teased, "I may be poor, but I'm not illiterate." Kuja chuckled. "I have a magnificent palace in the desert," Kuja said, "I shall be heading there immediately. Will you accompany me?" Aren nodded. "Good," he confirmed, "I have some clothing that used to belong to the old master of the castle."

Aren shook her head. "You don't have to," she said modestly, "I mean, I appreciate it, but if you're just doing this because of what you did before, I don't want to be just some person you get redemption through helping."

Kuja shook his head. "I assure you, you are not my redemption, and yet you still exacerbate that redemption," he said elegantly as he rose from the bed, "I am not assisting you because I want to atone for my sins. I am assisting you because you have assisted me unconditionally, and have earned my trust for it."

Suddenly, Aren thrust her arms around Kuja and squoze him tightly. "Hmmm..." he pondered aloud, "so that's what a hug feels like? No wonder Zidane is such a skirt-chaser." Aren released him, and stared up into his face. "You said Zidane? That's wierd, this week's Moogle Weekly said that the man marrying the princess was named Zidane," she said.

Kuja laughed his signature laugh, and began to walk. "Are you coming?" he questioned, unphased by what he had already suspected. Aren nodded, and quickly hurried to follow close behind him. They quickly got back onto the mountain path, and began to head east.


End file.
